Dreams and Nightmares
by Kurissyma san Tybalt
Summary: Emily hides her nightmares by avoiding sleeping in front of JJ during their cases; JJ catches on. JJ/Emily, Chapter 5 is rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"How come none of this gets to you?" I'd asked Emily, not long after she joined the team. It came out more bitterly than I intended. She'd unintentionally surprised me, adjusting my bandages in Hankel's bathroom, and I resented this woman I barely knew seeing me vulnerable and afraid.

"What do you mean?" she replied. Her voice was cautiously concerned, like she wasn't sure if she was allowed to worry about me yet.

I softened my voice. "You came off a desk job," I reminded her. "And now suddenly you're in the field, surrounded by mutilated bodies, and you don't even flinch."

"She's right, you've never blinked," Hotch agreed, behind her.

Emily's face had shown only the briefest flicker of doubt. "I guess... Maybe I compartmentalise better than most people," she answered and that was that.

Compartmentalising, though, is a conscious act. It involves a high level of self-awareness and focus. _This is important, not that. Head over heart._ Keeping it up, if possible, is exhausting. And the obvious downside is... Well, the downside that _should've_ been obvious is: once you're no longer awake and putting effort into keeping everything in its proper place, the mind does what it likes.

In dreams, every thought, scent, sight, sound, feeling you've ever felt is available for selection and manipulation. The dogs I'd shot down came back to life every night, no matter how much I tried to put them out of my mind during the day. And for Emily, who never let a hint of fear show on her face, it should've been obvious - I should've guessed - that she'd have worse nightmares than any of us.

The Bureau wasn't exactly throwing money around but if we could swing it, depending on the location of the case, we usually got motel rooms to ourselves. It wasn't a set-in-stone given but that was how it went, more often than not.

When Hotch told us we'd be doubling up at a small motel we were staying at in rural New Jersey, I took it with an attitude of, '_Oh well - you win some, you lose some,'_and hoisted my go bag onto my shoulder, ready to head upstairs. Emily's face showed no change but there was something about her posture that seemed off. I couldn't place it. Only after six months of working together almost every day was I even_beginning_ to understand that woman's too subtle emotional shifts.

When we entered our room I arbitrarily picked a bed and flung my bag down, while Emily remained at the door, keeping a hand on her own bag almost protectively. She looked like she wanted to turn around and walk back out.

It was 9 pm or so by then. We'd been out in the field all day and we'd stopped to eat at a diner on our way to the motel so there was no reason for her not to settle in for the night. Still, Emily hesitated.

"You have a preference to which bed you want?" I asked, although I'd already began unpacking things onto one of them. I doubted it was anything so trivial that was bothering her but I wanted to open up a dialogue.

"No, of course not," Emily replied, moving properly inside now. "Were you planning on showering?"

"Yeah, I might," I answered. "Just to save time in the morning. We'll be up pretty early as it is."

"You go first then," Emily said and that was it. She started unpacking things neatly onto her own bed and didn't say another word. Every visible sign of anxiety had disappeared and yet I got the distinct impression that whatever momentary fear she'd had, it had been masked rather than assuaged.

What was I supposed to do though, if she wouldn't let me in? I went to have my shower and, when I was done, Emily took my place. We got into bed without saying more than a few simple words to each other. I read until eleven thirty or so and then suggested we get some sleep. Emily returned her tablet to her bag, wished me goodnight, and that should've been that.

But Emily didn't sleep. She didn't even try. At first I wasn't paying too much attention, I didn't notice, but then something drew my attention to her deliberately deep, even breaths and I thought, 'That's not natural.' She was resting but not sleeping. Every so often I opened my eyes to peek at her and found her staring at the ceiling. Eventually I fell asleep myself and when I woke up in the morning, Emily was already up and moving around. She didn't look like she'd slept at all. But then she applied make-up and I wasn't sure. Maybe I'd imagined it. She looked perfectly fine once she exited the bathroom.

* * *

><p>Our second day in New Jersey was long and fruitless. Another body was found - a young, female victim. Emily and I had notified the parents. Emily was compassionate but detached and I marveled at her. She was either some kind of robot, who only faked having emotions when it suited her, or she had a mask of stone guarding her against the perception and understanding of others.<p>

That night, I paid even more pointed attention to Emily than the first. Again, I heard her slow, even breathing - the sort of thing they instruct you to do in a therapist's office or on a yoga retreat - and I knew she wasn't sleeping. By then I realised that she had no intention to.

"Do you _ever_ sleep, Emily?" I sighed, sometime after midnight.

"Am I disturbing you?" Emily asked, surprised. And I was right - with the clarity and quickness of her response there was no way she'd been asleep or anywhere close to it.

"Of course you're not disturbing me," I answered, although I was a little peeved despite myself. "I'm just confused. How do you expect to work if you don't sleep?"

"Meditation is very effective," Emily replied obliquely. "Far more effective than poor quality sleep."

"Why don't you just take a sleeping pill?" I asked. "I have some in my go bag if you want?"

"I'm fine." Emily's voice was quiet. "Go to sleep, JJ."

I closed my eyes but only for a few seconds. I just couldn't do it, knowing she was lying there awake. "You were nervous about sharing a room with me and now you won't sleep. Em, is something wrong? Is it me?"

Emily turned her cheek into her pillow and met my eye. "Why do you care if I'm not disturbing you?"

"Are you kidding?" I asked disbelievingly. "I care because... God, why do I need a reason? You're not sleeping. It's not healthy. We put our minds through enough with this job not to rest them afterwards."

"Sleeping isn't restful for me, JJ," Emily admitted. Her voice was low, fading in the darkness.

"Nightmares," I sighed, understanding. "Emily, we all get them."

"I can be loud..."

I could see why that would bother her. Calm, rational Emily, crying out against her will and in the presence of a colleague...? The idea had to be intensely repellent to her - so much so that she'd rather not sleep at all. She needed to stay in control.

"Sleep, Emily," I insisted. "Just try it for one night."

Emily nodded reluctantly but all through the night I heard her deep, controlled breathing and knew she was lying awake too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The infuriating thing was that Emily's performance at work didn't slip. She was as calm and astute as ever and her perfectly applied make-up left no one suspicious of her lack of sleep. In my attempts to convince Emily that sleep was required for proper functioning, I had no evidence - at least not from her. _I _was beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Maybe I ought to take up meditation too... No. I banished the thought.

For the entire week we were in New Jersey, Emily didn't sleep a single night. I stopped acknowledging it and she was happy to let me. I got used to the sound of her too-consistent breathing and I started sleeping again myself.

It wasn't until almost a year later that it came up again. We'd been called in late on an emergency case - a child abduction. We worked in shifts through most of the night - desperate not to waste those first, crucial hours. At four am we were running through the woods, following manic scent dogs. By seven am we'd found the girl and returned her home, via the hospital, but we'd lost the unsub. The case continued.

That night we returned early to the motel. By the time we finished eating dinner it was still only 6 pm. Staying up through the night had physically exhausted us, while losing the unsub had exhausted us emotionally. Everyone was ready for bed.

"Surely," I sighed, "You'll have to sleep tonight."

I could see from Emily's eyes that she was completely drained and that worried me. Perhaps, now that we'd been working together for a year and a half, she was beginning to let me in. More likely, though, was the possibility that she was showing weakness because she couldn't hide it. And that was unlike her.

She didn't answer my question.

"Emily, you don't have to be embarrassed," I said quietly, still never sure when I was overstepping a line with her. "You've seen me wake up from nightmares a hundred times by now but you still won't even sleep with me in the room. I worry about you..."

I turned away briefly to change into my pyjamas. Emily usually insisted on going into the bathroom to change but today she did the same. I looked away pointedly. _For god's sake, Em, just realise you can trust me already, _I silently begged. When I heard her climbing into bed, I turned back around and pulled down my own sheets.

"How can I make you comfortable enough to fall asleep?" I asked. "Tell me how."

Emily didn't answer and I rolled over with a sigh, switching my lamp off and turning my back to her. Soon after, Emily's lamp switched off too and I quickly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>It was barely 10 o'clock when a cry jolted me awake. At first I panicked, forgetting where I was, and then I turned my head and saw her. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I made out the features of Emily's face, contorted as if she was in pain. Her breath came in soft pants, nothing like the deep breathing she usually practiced at night. Sometimes a moan rolled out in between breaths.<p>

This was exactly what Emily had been afraid of, I realised as I watched her. She was utterly helpless, trapped in her own mind, and here I was, observing each minute twinge of her anxiety. The best thing I could do, if I went by my knowledge of Emily and her need for privacy, was to go back to sleep and pretend I'd heard nothing.

But then what? She'd wake up terrified and alone and consider this an utterly failed experiment? Would she think, '_I got lucky that JJ didn't hear me this time. I'd better not risk it by letting myself fall asleep again...'_ No, somehow I had to let her know that it was patently okay for her to show her fears, even if the very last thing she wanted was for me to acknowledge them.

On the other hand, I'd done my research on nightmares over the past year and a half and I knew that you weren't supposed to wake someone unless they were doing something dangerous. It wouldn't give Emily a heart attack, like my mom always used to say, but it could leave her even more scared and confused and unwilling to fall back to sleep.

I climbed out of bed quietly and checked Emily's temperature, moving her blankets down a little when I found her slightly warm. Up close I could see sweat beading on her forehead along with every little shiver that racked her body. I was supposed to calm her down without waking her...

I tried not to over-think it. Making my mind up, I climbed into bed behind Emily and spooned my body against hers.

"Shh," I whispered, rubbing her arm gently. "Shh, you're safe, Em..."

I spoke to her softly as she continued to mumble and shake and I took the hair tie from my own hair to scoop Emily's off her neck, where it was beginning to stick with sweat. When I'd done that, I curled back up to her and laid a kiss against her shoulder blade.

"Shh, Em. I've got you," I murmured and, bit by bit, her body began to relax until she was leaning back into me - a soft, heavy weight against my stomach and chest.

_I'll get up soon_, I decided. _Just as soon as I'm sure the nightmare's over..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I blushed warmly as I awoke to find myself still wrapped around Emily. I hadn't meant to fall asleep beside her. I only counted my lucky stars that she was still sleeping as I disentangled myself and crept back to my own bed. It was only 7.30 and Hotch had told us not to show our faces until 9 after the night we'd had, so we still had plenty of time. I pulled my blankets up around me and began to read, while Emily slept soundly on, and I delighted in every soft, contented mumble, in every odd snuffle or snatched breath that meant she was well and truly asleep. I had absolutely no intention of waking her until the last possible moment.

Around 8.20, after I was showered and dressed, I decided I'd better give her the chance to do the same if she wanted to.

"Hey, Em, rise and shine," I called from where I stood, powdering my face, just inside the bathroom door. She didn't move - she really _was_ asleep. '_Jesus, Em, your body must be catching up on the past ten years or something,' _I thought. Then I closed up my make-up bag and slid back into the bedroom. I sat down on the edge of Emily's bed and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Em, it's time to get up."

As Emily's big, dark eyes opened and her pupils shrank against the natural light, I couldn't help but smile fondly. "Morning, Em," I greeted her in a soft voice.

For a moment Emily looked confused, then she smiled too. "Good morning," she chuckled. "I... Must've fallen asleep."

"Must've," I agreed. "Did you sleep well?"

"Amazingly," Emily replied, a little suspiciously. My hand slid off her shoulder as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Wow, it's been a long time since I've been woken up by anything other than a nightmare or an alarm clock."

"It's almost 8.30," I told her. "We're meeting Hotch downstairs at 9."

"Sure," Emily replied, still sounding a little dazed. Then she got up and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving me to celebrate my victory alone.

* * *

><p>"So are we feeling encouraged to actually give sleep another try tonight?" I teased hopefully as we returned to our motel room at the end of the day.<p>

"It depends," Emily replied. "Are you going to do whatever you did last night again?"

I felt a blush creep up into my cheeks.

"I woke up wearing your hair tie," Emily explained. "So you must've done something and I doubt it was as simple as tying my hair up." Her voice let on nothing about how she felt about 'whatever I'd done'.

"You were dreaming," I acknowledged. "I just checked that you weren't overheated and sat with you a bit until you calmed down." Okay, it wasn't _ridiculously _far from the truth.

"You just _sat_ with me?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've had people I was dating complain that I moaned and groaned all through the night and they couldn't get a wink of sleep no matter what they did to try and shut me up. And you just _sat with me _and made it stop?"

"Um, okay, first of all - _rude_ of your dates," I replied defensively. "Second of all, they can't have tried too hard because, okay, maybe I didn't just sit there, but absolutely all it took was me lying down beside you and talking to you for a bit. That's it. Then you were fine and you slept peacefully on your own until morning."

"I told you I'd be a pain if I tried to sleep," Emily sighed.

"You weren't a pain," I answered, keeping my voice firm. "I was comfortable and happy to do it. I'll do it again tonight if I need to. Unless you tell me now that you'd rather I didn't."

"It'd be simpler if I just did my breathing," Emily suggested, looking conflicted.

The fact that she was being open enough for me to see her struggle was enough to make up my mind. "Never mind 'simpler'," I answered. "If you want, I'll show you what I did last night and you can decide whether or not it's okay for me to do the same again if you have another nightmare."

Emily eyed me uncertainly and then gave a nod before turning away to change. I did the same and then we turned out our respective lamps and Emily climbed into bed. I let her get comfortable for a second before climbing in behind her. Beating back my inhibitions, I curled my body around Emily's just as I had the night before, my front against her back.

"I tied your hair back," I said quietly, brushing my fingertips against her neck. "And I touched your arm, nowhere else." I demonstrated, stroking my hand gently over her skin. "Other than that, I just spoke to you, Emily. That was all. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah..." Emily's voice came out on a sigh and I gave her arm a soft squeeze.

"Good," I answered. "Hopefully you're fine tonight but if you're not, I'm right here. No stupid breathing methods, okay? Get some real sleep."

Emily _mmhmm_'d softly and I smiled, pressing a kiss against her shoulder blade automatically before getting up to return to my own bed.

"You can trust me, Em," I promised her as I drew the blankets up over my shoulders. "You don't have to be afraid of going to sleep anymore."

* * *

><p>I was ready for the first soft moan. I waited to see if it would pass and, as I saw Emily's body began to quake, I stepped easily out of bed and climbed in with her. This time, her nightmare hadn't had much time to take hold and she was easy to calm. Still, I didn't leave her side. I lay against her, like I'd shown her I would, and danced my fingers across her arm.<p>

Maybe I was enjoying being close to her a little too much, I allowed myself to admit under the cover of darkness. She was a beautiful woman and I was less than arrow-straight. She was also letting me in in a way that she let almost no one else as far as I knew. Of course I was going to start having intimate feelings towards her. As long as I kept my actions in check, I was sure they would pass.

This much was okay. She had said so herself. And so, for the second night in a row, I lay with Emily and I helped her sleep, and I found that I slept better with her at my side too.

* * *

><p>I awoke in a rather different position to the one I had fallen asleep in.<p>

Emily had rolled over at some point during the night and now lay directly in front of me, although a little further down. Her chin was tilted downward and her cheek rested tantalisingly close to my chest. Her arms were around my waist, beneath my shirt, and the warmth of her hands against the bare small of my back gave the impression that they'd been there a while. My arms circled her in a similar fashion and one of her ankles was casually crossed over one of mine.

Emily was still asleep, thank god, because now I knew for sure that I was enjoying this far too much. The feeling of her soft hands against my skin excited me in a way that surprised me, no matter how predictable it seemed in retrospect.

When Emily awoke, she tilted her head up automatically and her nose brushed against my neck.

"Good morning," was, somehow, all she said.

I swallowed uncertainly. "Good morning," I answered.

I tried not to let my body stiffen as Emily's fingers flexed curiously against my lower back.

"This is different to the position you showed me last night," she pointed out.

"Your fault," I accused her. "You must have turned around at some point. You know, I never would've taken you for the cuddling type."

"There's a non-cuddling type?" Emily asked, still with that slightly dopey, sleep-dazed expression.

"You're right," I chuckled. "Who are those weirdos?" I tightened my arms around her waist testingly. "Promise me you won't feel weird about this later, Em."

"I'm highly aware that I _should_ feel weird about this, _especially_ since you just told me not to..." Emily replied. "But I'm too relaxed to care right now."

"Perhaps we can put off caring until the nightmares pass," I suggested.

Emily's face clouded slightly at that.

"You don't think they will," I gathered. And I felt stupid then, because you don't teach yourself to go a week without falling asleep for a fleeting problem.

"Last year, when I first joined the team and you said, 'You came off a desk job'..." Emily said quietly. "Things happened before that, which I'm never going to forget."

The exactness of her tone told me that Emily had chosen her words carefully and didn't intend to add to them.

"Well, _I'm_ completely comfortable with this," I replied. "If I can help you, I'm going to, for as long as you'll let me."

Emily closed her eyes briefly. "...What time is it?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

From that night on, whenever Emily and I shared a hotel room, we shared a bed too. I wasn't confident enough to invite myself into her room when we were assigned separate ones but on those nights I found myself missing her. And worrying. More than I expected to.

My ability to read Emily was increasing as a result of necessity. I'd begun to see the signs that she still couldn't sleep when she was alone, even when those signs were missed by every other member of the team.

In fact, I never once heard her say to anyone but me that she had trouble sleeping. For the others, Emily was still miraculously unbothered by our work. Yet, where this had once alienated them, now it garnered admiration. They wondered, _'How can she stay so calm and yet so human?'_ She kept up a reputation for being unshakeable.

Only I witnessed the dark hours in which her fears poured out of her.

I began to understand too, in part. Sometimes she murmured desperate reassurances like she was comforting a child. Sometimes I heard names, which I didn't recognize until years later, and which I never told her I'd heard.

Two years passed like this. Emily and I became closer for them, although we acted the same as ever around the team. Finally, after a particularly horrific day, I found myself knocking on the door to her single motel room for the first time. I was wearing pyjamas - this had been a last minute decision - and I glanced around the hall anxiously until the door opened.

"JJ?" Emily asked, surprised yet unsurprised. She was wearing the black tank top and grey flannel pants that I'd become so accustomed to seeing her in over the past two years and her hair was tied in a low ponytail. A by-now familiar flush of heat ran through me as I realised that I knew _exactly _how her pyjamas would feel against my skin; I knew exactly how her skin felt under my fingertips. I was a mess of anxiety and anticipation.

"I don't want to sleep alone tonight," I blurted out. Holding only my room key and cell phone in my hand, I felt like a college student, sneaking around after dark. I prayed that Emily would let me in.

She considered me slowly and then nodded, stepping out of the doorway to let me pass. "Are you sure you're not worrying about me?" she asked sceptically.

I gave a vehement shake of my head. "I sleep better with you," I declared. "And tonight I don't think there's much chance of me getting any rest alone."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked but I shook my head again and moved past her to climb into bed, switching off the light as I did. I could take liberties such as this with her.

"I just need this," I answered.

Emily lay in front of me, her arms immediately reaching out to pull me against her, and I sighed. My head dropped to her chest and her chin rested protectively on top.

Emily paused for such a long time then that I thought she wasn't going to reply at all but finally I felt her jaw unlock and move against my head. "I'm glad you're here..." I felt, as much as heard, her say.

I laid a tentative kiss against her clavicle and closed my eyes.

* * *

><p>Dark, spiralling chaos. Shouting. The sound of tree branches snapping, scraping past my arms. Uneven ground. Slipping, falling. The glint of a knife as sharp as a burn feels...<p>

_"Emily!_"

"Shh, JJ... You're okay, I've got you."

I cried out and struggled against the hands that held me until the panic eased. Lifting a shaking hand, I felt hot, wet tears against my cheeks. "Em!" I gasped out.

"It's okay," this was Emily's voice. "Oh, baby, it's all right, I promise. Shh..."

My breath was coming hard and fast and it took me a minute to remember where I was. Emily held me tightly, one hand gripping mine and the other rubbing firm, reassuring patterns against my lower back, beneath my shirt. I closed my eyes and focused on the warmth of that hand. As the tension leaked out of my body, Emily softened against me too and I realised I'd scared her. She relaxed her grip and her caresses became gentler, slower. A shiver ran through me.

"There you go, baby... Everything's okay. I've got you."

I let out a quiet moan as I opened my eyes again saw the time flashing _3:12 am_ on the clock behind Emily's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Em."

"JJ, when have you ever let me apologise for waking you up?" Emily asked seriously. "Don't even think about it. ...Anyway, you may not know this, but I get nightmares too."

I had to smile at Emily's self-directed tease. My racing mind was beginning to settle and, as it did, I re-processed what had just happened. "...Did you just call me _baby_?"

I watched as Emily's cheeks darkened - even in the shadowy room I could tell she was flushing. "It just came out," she confessed.

I met her eyes with a breathy giggle. "Okay, this is a personal question. You don't have to answer," I warned her. "But... have you ever been with a woman? I know it was just a reflex but _baby_ seems like something you'd call a girlfriend rather than a boyfriend. Maybe that's just me."

Emily's hand stilled on my back. "Would you be uncomfortable with this if I said I had?" she asked. "…Been with a woman?"

I shook my head deliberately - a task made awkward by the fact that I was lying on my side. "That would be hypocritical," I replied. "Since I have as well."

Was it me or did Emily look _interested?_

When she didn't say anything, I added, "Our arrangement works, Em. It's worked for a long time now. I'm definitely not saying I want this to end. I was just curious..."

"I've been with more than a few women," Emily admitted. "More than I've been with men... I honestly didn't mean to call you that, though, Jayj. Usually it's something I'd call... well, a lover."

I tried not to look as happy as I secretly felt. "I kind of liked it," I answered - a confession of my own. "Usually you're so reserved with your feelings... I like that when you slipped, you called me something intimate." I ran my fingers along Emily's hip lightly. "I feel really close to you when we do this..."

I was near enough to hear Emily's breath catch as she prepared to speak. She opened her mouth but no sound came out and I watched her, suddenly wide awake.

"Sometimes I wonder how this started," she finally said. Her voice was soft and amazed. "The person I was when I joined the team wasn't ready to form a close relationship with anyone."

"Therein lies the problem," I answered, tilting my head up to meet her gaze. "I don't wait to be ready... And I don't ask permission."

I captured Emily's lips before she could even attempt to formulate a response. It was intended to be a short kiss - a few beats, my mouth closed and soft against hers - but when I felt Emily return the pressure of my lips, all of that went out the window. I kissed her passionately, deepening the angle with a hand on her chin, and she returned everything I gave her. Her hands slipped further up my back and then ran back down in a gesture that I took as one of disbelief.

When we pulled apart, it wasn't to check that everything was okay with one another - that much was obvious - it was to share a soft, celebratory smile: '_Hey, look at us. Did __**you**__ see this coming? …Yeah, me too.' _And then we kissed again, more slowly, before I settled my head tiredly back against her chest.

"Goodnight," I murmured.

"Good morning," Emily corrected me but I was already falling back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When I woke up again, I assumed that Emily was still asleep but, the moment I shifted, I found her looking down at me. Her expression was one of shy content.

"I'm still trying to figure out if what I think happened last night, really happened," she confessed.

I let out a soft laugh at that. "We kissed," I summarised the most important event.

"We did," Emily agreed, relieved.

I squeezed my arms around her waist. "I liked it."

"Did you?" Emily almost teased. I nodded in response.

"10/10, would repeat," I teased back with a wiggle of my eyebrows and then she was leaning down to kiss me again. God, I could've done that all day. Screw the case, screw the whole damn BAU, just let me lie here and kiss the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, who trusts me like she trusts no one else...

"Theoretically," Emily hedged, when we reluctantly parted for breath, "Would you be open to repeating that, maybe in my apartment sometime, after dinner?"

"Emily Prentiss, is that how you ask a woman on a date?"

"Do you want me to get on my knees?"

"Not yet," I answered with a smirk. "Maybe after a few of those dinners…"

Emily rolled her eyes. "You're not shy, are you, Jennifer?" she laughed. The glint from her eyes could've lit the Olympic flame; it certainly ignited a fire in me.

"Shy? Me?" I replied ."Uh-uh. Once I know what I want and it's in sight, I'm not going to hide it." I brushed our noses together lightly. "…FYI, I want _you,_ Emily. I have for a long time."

Emily didn't reply, she just kissed me again - slowly, wonderingly, like she still couldn't believe that was something she was allowed to do.

I traced my thumb gently over her cheek and then slid my hand down her side and over her hip. "You are... stunning," I sighed.

"_I_ am? You're crazy," Emily chuckled.

I pretended to consider this for a moment before shaking my head. "Nope, definitely you."

"You know we should get up and get ready for work..."

I couldn't help the laugh that tumbled from my own mouth then. "If you're thinking about work right now, you really _are_ crazy!"

* * *

><p><em>"Unghh..."<em>

I awoke several evenings later to a low moan and Emily spooned up behind me. Assuming she was having another nightmare, I reached for her hand, resting over my stomach, and took it in mine, rubbing it gently.

"Shh, Em," I murmured, closing my eyes again. "I'm right here..."

A second moan erupted from her throat and I raised her hand to kiss it but before I could say another word, Emily cried out, starling me into silence.

"Fuck, Jayj!_"_ Her voice was tight with desire and her hips jerked against my ass.

Oh god! This was no nightmare she was having!

As Emily's hips jerked again, I couldn't help but grind back into her, still clutching her hand tight. Was that wrong? I swallowed guiltily as Emily let out another terse sound, nearly a grunt. My stomach knotted and I bit back a moan of my own. I forced myself to drop her hand.

"Em," I begged, desperate to wake her up to what she was doing to me. "Emily!"

I couldn't hold back a gasp as Emily's freed hand found my breast. Her mouth was against my shoulder now, sucking through my thin t-shirt, and my own mouth was entirely dry. I placed my hand over hers, intending to pull it away, but as Emily's hips moved against me I found myself moving her hand over my breast for a few moments before getting a hold of myself and dropping it.

"Emily, _wake up!_" I nearly shouted.

A startled movement from behind me suggested that had done the job and, moments later, to both my relief and despair, Emily's hand slipped from my breast. I rolled over to face her and, before she could utter an apology, I pressed my lips hard against hers. Emily opened her mouth in surprise and I didn't wait for an invitation, I pushed my tongue right in, teasing hers until she began to respond - slowly, still in shock.

A small moan passed from Emily's lips to mine and I could almost feel the need coming off her, even as she tried to hold herself back. Her dream had affected her as much as it had affected me.

I pushed her onto her back and climbed over her, pressing my hips down onto hers without breaking the kiss. Emily arched beneath me disbelievingly and I palmed her breasts, touching her as she'd touched me while she slept.

Our mouths and bodies slid against one another and Em was reaching for the hem of my top before I was thinking anywhere near that far ahead. Everything was so close and immediate and _so _goddamn sexy; my mind was stalling. I reciprocated the action, removing Emily's shirt just as quickly, and then we fell back against each other, our bare breasts making hot, electric contact.

I cried out as Emily's thigh rose between my legs and nudged my way too sensitive clit and I slipped my hand down between our bodies to brush against the front of her pyjama pants. Emily's hips canted toward me needfully and she nodded, encouraging me to remove them, to touch her directly. Her eyes were wide open and a little glazed, like she was still half-caught up in her dream. I kissed her deeply as I undressed her and I let her do the same to me, her pale, delicate hands moving over my body wonderingly.

She was so wet. So silky, slippery wet. She'd probably woken up damp but now she was dripping. My fingers slipped easily between her folds and sighs slipped from her lips like prayers.

"Damn, you're beautiful…" The words had torn themselves from my mouth before I could stop them. We hadn't said a word up to now and for a moment I was terrified that I had ruined everything but then Emily's hips lifted to nudge my fingertips, chastising me for pausing. Her eyes met mine, uncertain but wanting beneath gently furrowed brows. "You _are_," I whispered, knowing she didn't believe me, and a hesitant smile caught the edges of her lips. I knew, in that moment, what it was to feel your heart _swelling_ with love.

I began to play with Emily now, teasing my fingers through her folds. I leaned my forehead against her sweat-coolled neck and sighed, feeling her muscles tense as my breath skated across her skin.

"I was having a… dream," she gasped out - finally feeling the need to explain.

"Not a nightmare?" I asked coyly.

Emily's head shook from side to side, flopping against the pillow as she choked back a moan. "No!"

I smirked, pleased with my newfound ability to turn this gorgeous woman into such a gorgeous mess. "Was... _I _in your dream, by any chance?"

"You were in _me, _Jay."

I swear my heart almost stopped at those words. Somehow she'd stolen the upper advantage of a moment of stunned silence, Emily threw one long, smooth leg up over the backs of mine and used it to help her turn us around, pinning me beneath her. Her hand slipped inside my pants before I could so much as take a breath and I let out the highest, tightest little whimper - a sound so ridiculous, so needy, I couldn't believe it had come out of my own mouth - but I couldn't and didn't want to take it back.

Emily's eyes were dark yet playful as she kissed up my stomach, between my breasts, and I watched her in awe. I began to lift a hand up to touch her cheek, then realised it was still steeped in her essence. A wicked smile crossed my features as I slipped two wet fingers digits my lips and gently sucked. Emily's fingers slowed as she raised her head to watch me taste her and I could almost hear her swallow.

Running my tongue over every inch of my hand that had come into contact with her sweetness, I left out a soft, inviting moan, and suddenly Emily was grabbing my hand with her free one, entwining our fingers, and kissing me. Her fingers on my sex quickened and, well slicked, she pressed them inside me, swallowing the hiss of approval that rushed past my lips.

I held her hand tight, gasping and crying out between kisses. She had me so high, so damn high. I was so tense, I could barely move, yet I felt _everything_. My body was a web of sensations, the intensity of her touch sparking from nerve to nerve and lighting me on fire. Sweat beaded on my forehead and she kissed it away and when our lips met again, hers were salty.

I had to touch her again and, although it took a little manoeuvring, we'd soon figured out a way to make it work. I sank my fingers inside of her and squeezed my eyes shut, unbelievably turned on but also moved by the feeling of her soft insides stretching to accommodate me, pulling me in, grasping me tight.

I was close. Fuck, I was close. I knew Emily could feel it in my movements; I could see the knowledge written all over her face. And she was smiling as she kissed my cheeks, my neck, my shoulders, my clavicle. My mouth opened wide but no sound came out - not even a gasp. Just a stiff, silent _oh_ of the lips beneath slitted eyes and brows that knitted together like yarn, frozen in an expression of total, intense _need_.

Emily's fingers hit me hard and deep and, without warning, my whole body was tightening, desperate to trap them inside. Stay. Stay. Stay. We're perfect the way we are right now. Never leave me. Stay.

I screamed. And in the dim awareness of the world I maintained, just enough to extend to my beautiful girl, I felt Emily rutting against my hard, heard her make these deep, low, _hard_ sounds. My scream had been piercing; Emily's grunts seem to hit out at the air beyond her lips; bluntly thrusting; hammering the external world with _uh, uh, fuck, nguh, uh- uh- __**baby. **_Her passage convulsed around me and I could feel the waves of her orgasm rocking her in tandem with mine. I think I managed to push out her name, just once - _"Emily!" - _but I'm not even sure she heard it.

She almost knocked the wind out of me when she was finished, dropping bonelessly on top of me. I loved it. One arm wrapping tight around her waist, the opposite hand weaving into damp hair, I held her as close to me as nature would allow. Sweat bound us together along every contacting inch; her breasts flush against my ribs; her chest heaving into mine.

I fell asleep long before the capacity for words returned to me.

* * *

><p>Waking up with Emily's body curled around mine, or vice versa, had become the norm over the past two years but it never lost any of its wonder. Here lay the woman they called unshakeable and I had made her quiver with need and then slip away into sleep so deep and still she was like a liquid in my arms. Her breaths came long and deep, punctuated by the odd snuffle or murmur - contented sub-verbal swats at dreams that rarely ever distressed her anymore.<p>

I knew the signs of her awakening well and my smiled widened when I saw her eyes open. We were almost nose to nose, our naked bodies casually entwined, and she chuckled in surprise at finding my face so close. She didn't waste a second in kissing me.

"Good morning, my love," she whispered and a thrill ran through me at her words, combined with the caress of her breath against my cheek.

"Good morning," I answered with a cheeky smile. I was leaning in to kiss her again when suddenly she swore.

She'd caught sight of the clock behind my shoulder.

"_Fuck, _Jayj!"

"What?"

"We've overslept!"


End file.
